[The First Casualty of War]

First published Edinburgh Saturday Post, 15 December 1827, p. 252. Never reprinted. This leading article continues the regular analysis of ‘the week’s news’ from the London and Paris papers, from previous leaders in the Post. Its comments on ‘the tortuous policy which … govern[s] our affairs in the Levant’, reflect one of De Quincey’s specialties at the time. The journalist has a close acquaintance with London papers, and some knowledge of London’s ‘’Change’. The phrase, ‘if we can rely upon the Journal des Debats’, echoes the doubts concerning the French press, on the subject of the French, British, and Russian ambassadors, in other leaders in the Post (see above, pp. 147–8, and below, pp. 313–14). The writer’s perspective is British or English, rather than Scottish, and the phrase ‘At home’ refers to the English town of Portsmouth. ‘Our hope … that war may be avoided’ anticipates the leader of 29 December, which ends with the words, ‘Our hope … subsists, agreeably to our original impression, that war may be … avoided’ (see below, p. 201). In general, this article continues De Quincey’s pacifism regarding the Turkish conflict (a pacifism which was not shared by all contributors to the Post; see p. 138, above). Other internal evidence includes the italics and dashes, the use of ‘and’ or ‘but’ after a semi-colon (which seems to replace the sentences beginning with ‘But’, in De Quincey’s contributions at this time), and the allusion to Shakespeare.